Tomorrow being September 1, I’m planning to start another New Life, this time focusing on getting my finances under control. I will bring my lunch to work (much healthier, anyway), religiously take the bus instead of drive (much more environmental), rein in impulse purchases.
The problem is that the day before I begin a New Life, I always feel like having a last hurrah of my old bad ways. The day before a New Life focused on healthful eating, I want to eat a whole box of Little Debbie snack cakes. And the day before a New Life focused on fiscal responsibility, I want to make just a FEW last major purchases: a new laptop? A gas insert for my fireplace? A plane ticket somewhere exciting? Which means that I’ll start the New Life that much fatter and deeper in debt.
I’ve always been this way. I remember one family trip years ago, which I billed to the boys and to myself as the last hurrah before another period of belt-tightening and living within a budget. On the trip we were going to buy one last hurrah Beanie Baby – and then no more, ever again! I remember that Gregory would say to me, as we were out sightseeing and shopping, “Is this the day we’re going to get the Hurrah?” Of course we ended up having many more trips and many more Beanie Babies in the years to come, but that particular Beanie Baby acquired the name from us of Last Hurrah.
I guess it could be my name as well.
The problem is that the day before I begin a New Life, I always feel like having a last hurrah of my old bad ways. The day before a New Life focused on healthful eating, I want to eat a whole box of Little Debbie snack cakes. And the day before a New Life focused on fiscal responsibility, I want to make just a FEW last major purchases: a new laptop? A gas insert for my fireplace? A plane ticket somewhere exciting? Which means that I’ll start the New Life that much fatter and deeper in debt.
I’ve always been this way. I remember one family trip years ago, which I billed to the boys and to myself as the last hurrah before another period of belt-tightening and living within a budget. On the trip we were going to buy one last hurrah Beanie Baby – and then no more, ever again! I remember that Gregory would say to me, as we were out sightseeing and shopping, “Is this the day we’re going to get the Hurrah?” Of course we ended up having many more trips and many more Beanie Babies in the years to come, but that particular Beanie Baby acquired the name from us of Last Hurrah.
I guess it could be my name as well.
I'm just catching up on your blog posts from the past several days. I love the way you write, and I love the way I keep smiling for a long time after I read your words of wisdom.
ReplyDeletePrescription: Read one Claudia a day to keep the gloomies away.